Why Does Amazon Do Free Book Promotion?

Why Does Amazon Do Free Book Promotion?

Are you a burgeoning author who doesn’t have access to quick ways to reach out to a wide audience? Then there is nothing better than relying on Amazon free book promotions. At the first look you might feel awkward of the restrictive policies, but it is only 90 days restrictive policy. If after 90 days you feel that you already have got a fan base and ready to spread the wings, then you can try the multiple vendor routes and remove the book from Amazon Kindle Direct Program.

Are you among thousands of people who are puzzled as why does Amazon do free book promotions? Here is a little logic that works behind this promotional strategy.

Authors are willing to give away free promotions because from their perspective, a free book promotion is a win-win situation. A free book translates into more readers which lead to reviews and feedback, hopefully of the positive kind. The internet presents a wider audience and the exposure is far reaching. The more positive publicity a book can garner the higher up on the Amazon charts it will go.

Authors subscribe for the KDP select, which allows them to schedule five days free download in the span of 90 days block. This can be in any order like:

Back to back free download

One day that is time spaced over the time of 90 days

Two at once

This free book promotion tool gets your book into the Kindle of the readers. Research shows that free book days often translate into huge sales after the free days promotion is expired. Wondering how? Downloads directly affect the Amazon ranking system. That is the book rise up the free charts and often translates into a steep rise on the paid charts. This is termed as ‘Gold Rush’ and a great opportunity for Amazon to bag in good money.

Still not sure, why Amazon does free book promotions? There is more to the explanation. Here are four reasons that support the above point:

People like expensive freebies: It is true that people like to grab expensive freebies. So, if your book is expensive and available for free, the number of downloads are sure to rise. As the number of downloads are large, people are tempted to download even if they have to pay for it, just to see why is it downloaded by so many people?

Get in the top lists and stay there even after the promotional period: When people download the book even during the free period it moves up the charts. In most cases it stays there for a week’s time, as Amazon doesn’t kick you down after the promotion ends. Thus, the book gets more exposure as compared to when it was lying in the dungeons of the search list of Amazon. This directly affects the sales of the book.

Cross-promotion: When people download the book it appears in the list and the page of the people who bought it. This is a great opportunity of cross-promotion. Generally, friends come to know about the purchase and if Amazon reviews are satisfactory people do invest in the book.

Reviews: As people download the book they tend to review it. The numbers of positive reviews convert into increased sales and popularity. Having stars next to the title of your book surely makes a huge impact on the reader’s choice. These reviews are quite important to boost the sales and download figure.

Therefore, it will not be wrong to say that Amazon does the free promotion just to add to their download and sale figures.